1.19.2014

Winter's Revelation

Sometimes you just don't know who's living right next to you. Such was the case for us this year. We had no idea that bald-faced hornets had set up housekeeping in the edge of our woods. It was well after leaf fall that we discovered this large nest, just head-high in a small beech tree.

5 comments:

Up here in the frozen north, Bald-faced hornets all die with the onset of freezing weather (except for a queen who will start a new colony come spring). Is that the case for southern hornets, too, where the winters are not so cold?

Jacqueline, they do indeed die off with the cold weather. Around here that may mean well into winter, though. Yellow-jackets, the smaller cousin of the bald-faced, build a similar structure underground. Sometimes they survive the winter.

Pablo, they do pack a wallop!

KaHolly, we've never had too much trouble with them on the hummingbird feeders. We do get paper wasps and yellow-jackets on occasion, though.

Guy,I'm glad you like the frog. Since cricket frogs stay active on all but the coldest days here, I thought it was appropriate.